Disclaimer: nada, zilch, not mine

AFLW: A Sibling Moment

A/N: Okay, is it just me, or has anyone else been reminded of the word "flower" when looking at AFLW??? Which in turn reminds one of the 60s and hippies...and then Inu-Yasha as such a person/demon...then Austin Powers...and then an Austin Powers/Inu-Yasha moment??? Or was that just my head ?XB;;;;

Inu-Yasha sat and watched....sat and...well, watched...then sat and sneezed a bit, wriggled (his butt was starting to hurt) and readjusted his highly sensitive nose. "There's nothing to do at night, it seems..." He drifted in and out of a small slumber with his arms crossed. With boredom rapidly creeping over Inu Yasha, he began to ponder over the night's events. Or rather...incidences:

They weren't events. Events are supposed to happen. I wasn't supposed to hear her call me...call me...stupid, violent, insolent, and selfish...He spat out the words in his mind, feeling ashamed. He tried to tell himself that he didn't care, but then retorted his thoughts with the fact that he wouldn't still be tihnking about it if it didn't matter. He silently hit his head against the tree's trunk rythmically screaming to himself, baka, baka, baka, baka...

~*~

Kagome lay with her face planted in her pillow breathing laboriously due to the lack of oxygen. She punched the innocent, fluffy goodness of her mattress and comforter, trying to convince herself that the goat in her would win an internal war. She knew she was to blame for the low-pressing ears of Inu Yasha and the droop in his shoulders earlier that night and as much as she'd rather push it aside, she knew her remarks left a scar on the hanyou's pride. Taking a deep breath, Kagome screamed into her goose feathers and cloth.

"I can't believe I'm doing this. That...that...oooooooh!!!" she said frustratedly. Kagome was definitely not having a good few days... Not bothering to put on her day clothes (yes, she was wearing pajamas at two in the morning...zaney, huh?), she walked to her mom's room and heard a small, groggy groan in acknowledgement. Her mother, probably asleep, had said that Kagome could go back to the Sengoku Jidai. Turning around, Kagome stumbled over her brother and she cursed silently to herself.

"Sota, what are you doing out here?" she breathed. Everything was getting worse by the minute...until she heard a faint sniffling and her brother's voice muffled by a stuffed nose. He had been crying.

"Are...are you really going back?" he asked smally. Kagome's face softened and she sat down next to him in the dark, in the hallway. She hugged him and he cried against her chest.

"I...I have to, Sota. Inu Yasha needs his shard detector," she said bitterly. She shoook her head. He wasn't like that. So Kagome corrected herself with a soft laugh and a sigh (and a smile, but Sota couldn't see that), "I need to get back to Inu Yasha. I'm afraid I haven't been the nicest perso--" She was suddenly cut off by a meak plea...

"I..I p-promise not to be a bad brother anymore if you suh-stay! I-it's because of...me that you always leave, i-isn't it?!" Sota sobbed, rubbing away his salty tears and wiping them on his pajama bottoms. Kagome could hardly believe what she was hearing. She wrapped her arms around Sota's small, wracked body and slowly calmed him down.

"No...No, Sota! I have to leave. I have to finish what I started! I wish I could stay here with you more often...but I...I can't waste anymore time making myself comfortable...I have to get the rest of the shards before something really bad happens! Like...like a big scarey demon getting them all!" she said in a rumbling voice, tickling her little brother and making him laugh through the stopped-up sounds of his sniffling nose. In a tumbled heap, Kagome smiled for the first time in two days. And she laughed. And she was glad to be with her brother for once. He really isn't a bad brother all the time..., she thought to herself.

"Well anyway, Sota," Kagome said, standing up. Her little brother beamed up at her as she dusted off her pajama pants and hoisted him into the air. "I have to leave now. I have some things to take care of before I leave." Sota nodded and Kagome could hear his feet padding along the wooden floors to his room and quietly shuffled down the stairs. She walked to the refridgerator and clenched her eyes shut at the glaring light as she grappled for a container of leftover ramen and chucked it in her pack with all of her other things, including the three remaining ramen packages from the cubbard. She also grabbed her history book and a binder of studying material...she was falling behind in her classes again.

(Random A/N: YEY IT'S RAINING!!!! XD~~~ *looks dumbly out the window as a tree is struck by lighting and tail flicks happily* Heehee *^_^*)

~*~

Inu Yasha was slowly falling asleep again. He wouldn't move from his spot until Kagome came back...as usual. He wanted to be the first to see her. He bowed his head and made a motion to himself as though he was preparing to crack it open on the tree he leaned against. He had to finally admit to himself that no matter how mad or crummy she made him feel, he'd always want to see her...Sleep overcame Inu Yasha as he pondered how soft he had become.

Kagome pushed her pack out of the well and gasped for breath as she tumbled over the edge. She had a few things she meant to keep in the Sengoku Jidai with her this time and they were unbelievably heavy. Exhausted and extremely tired, Kagome looked up at the God Tree. Inu Yasha was on one of the top most branches; Kagome

could see a hint of red in the darkness of the leaves. Pushing against the side of the well and shuffling the bag across the ground, the girl kept her eyes fixated on the red. It wasn't moving; Inu Yasha must have still been asleep.

"Man, this is getting heavier and heavier..." Kagome breathed. She gave one more courageous push of her bad and when it didn't budge, she collapsed at the foot of the God Tree. She meant to only rest for a minute and regain her strength to push it to Kaede's, but before she could prevent herself, a most welcome and warm sleep overtook her and some twenty feet abover, Inu Yasha's ear twitched in his sleep. He thought he had heard Kagome and smelled her nearby, but he always did in his

dreams...

A/N: Short? XB Sorry...I meant for it to be longer, but hey...I'm known for my short chapters (unfortunately) ^^;;